industry into a series of regional markets, with each having relatively few
firms. On the other hand, the market may be larger than one country, as
is the case for most internationally traded commodities. Oil and coal, for
example, are both internationally traded products. As Figure 11-1
shows, the four largest Canadian firms account for almost 70 percent of
Canadian sales, but their power in the vastly larger global market is
practically nil.
This situation is faced by many Canadian companies producing raw
materials, such as Cameco, Encana, Suncor, Canfor, Rio Tinto Alcan, and
Barrick. These companies may be large relative to the Canadian market,
but the relevant market in each case (uranium, natural gas, oil, forest
products, aluminum, and gold) is the global one in which these firms have
no significant market power.